Riley on Gulf oil spill: Put local hands, minds to work

(Press-Register/John David Mercer)Alabama Gov. Bob Riley reacts as he sees oil retention booms in place during his aerial survey of the Alabama coastline prior to the arrival of the oil Tuesday May 4, 2010, in Orange Beach, Ala. Riley is proposing to close Mobile Bay should the oil from the Deepwater Horizon explosion head toward Alabama.Local officials in shoreline communities - from Orange Beach to Fairhope to Dauphin Island - have been told to submit lists by today of their most important needs and best ideas to prevent oil from making landfall.

State officials will sift through the lists and bankroll the work and supplies with $25 million pledged by BP PLC, according to a plan announced Friday by Gov. Bob Riley.

Riley hopes to have the new oil-fighting measures in place by early next week.

"We will not have another opportunity to protect this basin," Riley said, "so we have made a decision that this is going to go to the communities to upgrade the prevention, because you get one shot at this.

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"If we don't do it and do it well the first time, then we're going to deal with the lingering effects for the next decade."

A key component of the plan - announced by Riley while flanked by Bayou La Batre Mayor Stan Wright and other elected officials from both sides of Mobile Bay - involves using local fishermen and shrimpers to protect local waters.

Riley underscored the need to rely on homegrown knowledge. Wright added that putting out-of-work fishermen and shrimpers to work makes economic sense.

"Our people is not asking for a handout," Wright said, "but by employing these people, letting them go work waters they've worked their whole life and know where to go, they have enough sense to know what needs to be boomed."

He said, "Nobody has a better interest in the water in that area than our fishermen. That's their livelihood. If they lose that, they're going to lose their jobs forever.

"The first thing we're going to do is employ our local fishermen - not people from Maine - to work and protect this waterfront."

The added measures are intended to augment Riley's plan to create a system of barriers and gates at the mouth of Mobile Bay.

Riley met with mayors, county commissioners, lawmakers and others Friday to lay out plans for using the $25 million fund.

Riley's plan attempts to cut through government-agency red tape that many boat captains have complained about. For instance, Dauphin Island may want to place additional boom along its southern coast, and local officials would hire local crews for the work.

The state will funnel money from the $25 million to the local governments, which will then pay for the work. This plan takes BP and federal entities out of the loop.

"Why not rely on the people who know it best to protect it?" said state Rep. Spencer Collier, R-Irvington.